Hollywood Shocker: Beloved Composer Marvin Hamlisch, 68, Collapses and Dies. We Sang Along to His Songs, From ‘The Way We Were’ to the Music From ‘A Chorus Line.’ He Educated Many of Us to the Music of Scott Joplin When He Adapted It for ‘The Sting’

"Marvin Hamlisch, the singularly productive and sensationally decorated composer of musicals like ‘A Chorus Line’ and songs like ‘The Way We Were,’ has died, his family said Tuesday through a representative. He was 68," The New York Times reports..

Though the story adds that he died after a "brief illness," no cause of death was released. Said the Los Angeles Times, Hamlisch’s "sudden death took many by surprise. On his own Facebook page, he was looking forward to a return stint conducting the Pasadena Symphony and Pops: ‘Love you Pasadena symphony ! … Wow ! Can’t do it without you ! See you in September!’ He was also scheduled to conduct the New York Philharmonic on New’s Year Eve.

"Pasadena Symphony and Pops President Melinda Shea said Hamlisch’s death was unexpected and that she knew of no serious health problems."

Said The New York Times obituary, "In a career that spanned film, television, theater and recorded music, Mr. Hamlisch won seemingly every award available in each medium. He was a 12-time Academy Award nominee, for his score and song contributions to films as varied as ‘The Spy Who Loved Me’ and ‘Sophie’s Choice’ and a three-time Oscar winner for the score of ‘The Sting’ as well as the score from ‘The Way We Were”’ and its title song (with lyrics by Alan and Marilyn Bergman). He won four Emmy Awards, four Grammy Awards and a Tony Award for his score to the musical ‘A Chorus Line.’ That musical, which blended bouncy, brassy songs like ‘One’ and ‘Dance: Ten; Looks: Three’ with melancholy numbers like ‘At the Ballet,’ also won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1976."